A.M. Best Assigns Issuer Credit Rating to Assurant, Inc.Business Editors OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2004 A.M. Best Co. has assigned an issuer credit rating of "bbb" to Assurant, Inc. (currently named Fortis, Inc.) (New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , NY), which, at present, is the U.S. holding company of Benelux-based Fortis. Next month, Fortis plans to sell 55% of its stake through an initial public offering (IPO (Initial Public Offering) The first time a company offers shares of stock to the public. While not a computer term per se, many founders, employees and insiders of computer companies have found this acronym more exciting than any tech term they ever heard. ). This is the first step in the total divestiture The breakup of AT&T. By federal court order, AT&T divested itself on January 1, 1984 of its 23 operating companies, which became known as the Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs). of Fortis' U.S. insurance operations. Assurant will trade under the symbol AIZ AIZ Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri (Lee C. Fine Memorial Airport) AIZ Air Intercept Zone AIZ Anti Imperialistische Zelle(n) (German: Anti-Imperialistic Cell; now defunct terrorist group) on the NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange . Shortly following the IPO, Assurant intends to issue approximately $1 billion of senior debt securities. The issuer credit rating reflects Assurant's established market presence in numerous specialty insurance markets through the following four businesses: Assurant Solutions (currently called Assurant Group) offering specialty property and consumer protection credit and warranty businesses, Assurant Health (currently Fortis Health) offering individual and small group health, Assurant Employee Benefits (currently Fortis Benefits) offering small group non-medical products including group dental, group disability and group life and Assurant Preneed (currently Fortis Family and American Memorial Life) offering pre-funded funeral insurance. A.M. Best believes these operations will be relatively unaffected by Fortis' diminished di·min·ish v. di·min·ished, di·min·ish·ing, di·min·ish·es v.tr. 1. a. To make smaller or less or to cause to appear so. b. ownership position. All of Assurant's rated insurance subsidiaries have financial strength ratings of either A (Excellent) or A- (Excellent). The group's insurance entities should have little difficulty in servicing future projected debt obligations. While Assurant has considerable diversity in its revenue streams and profit sources, a number of its business units and product lines have been challenged by the slow economy and low interest rate environment of the past few years. A.M. Best's rating Best's rating A rating A.M. Best Co. assigns to insurance companies based on the company's ability to meet its obligations to its policyholders. does not give any credit for Fortis' ownership. For a complete listing of Assurant, Inc.'s financial strength ratings please visit www.ambest.com/press/012301assurant.pdf. For a complete list of A.M. Best's debt ratings, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/debtratings/. A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at www.ambest.com. |
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